Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
The Centre Grove United Methodist Church in Clearfield will celebrate 200 years in 2015. In the program for the church’s One Hundredth Anniversary celebration in 1915, there was a perspective offered on the advances of the previous century. The piece may have been an ad for the local Clearfield Hardware Company … One hundred years … Read more
I’ve always been a fairly high-energy person. But in the last couple of years, my energy level has suffered, ever since my “wake-up call” (elevated heart rate over the course of several months). I wrote a little about it in 3 Steps I’m Taking to Manage Stress Better. While I’m mostly recovered from that experience, … Read more
With the adoption of Ethan in 2008, Joleen and I went from being a clergy couple to being a clergy couple with a child. In other words, the chaos only increased! Shortly after bringing Ethan home from Korea, we set up online calendars using Google Calendar. The benefit is that either of us can access … Read more
We’ve always tried to mark moments and make memories by taking photos, especially with the kids. Over the last several years, the blog has given us a place to document part of the journey (much of which is in the category of adoption). Another way we’ve tried to mark moments is by creating photo books … Read more
Music, particularly worship music, plays an important role in our family. In fact, one of my favorite spiritual disciplines is listening to worship music. In 2007 (before kids), I wrote Songs for Leaders, a post reflecting on some songs that were encouraging me and challenging me, at the time. In 2010, I wrote about how … Read more
Taking a break after Easter has become a family tradition. It started before we had kids, but now, it’s more important than ever. We used to take off a few days after Easter, but with kids, we have to work around the school calendar. This year, we took two days off after Easter (school holidays), … Read more
It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of the resurrection of Jesus. It is central to our faith as followers of Jesus! The Apostle Paul wrote, “if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10.9, CEB). … Read more
If you’ve been following church-related news lately, you know The United Methodist Church is in turmoil. Some are even calling for schism, seeing no way out of the current mess. The best thing we can do, though, at this point, is PRAY. That’s what the Aldersgate Covenant is planning to do. They have called a … Read more
The Clearfield Cluster of United Methodist Churches offers a two-day confirmation bus trip every few years. We left last Thursday morning around 5:30 and returned home around 10:30 Friday night. It was a full, fast-paced two days! The trip included nine youth from three area churches plus seven adults. We made stops at the Pennsylvania … Read more
“Leaders go first.” It’s a fairly common phrase. I thought of it the other day as I was reading 1 Chronicles 29. King David, nearing the end of his life, is preparing the nation for its new king, his son, Solomon. Specifically, David is making preparations for the building of God’s temple. The temple was … Read more